Do you have something you want to do, but no one wants to do it with you? We all have those moments and think, "Well I guess I won't do it then. Right?" Wrong. You should never be afraid to do something alone. Turn a negative into a positive by having a "me" date. Not sure how to do it? Here's my story and tips on having a date with yourself.


A few weeks ago I was out of town with the boyfriend and he had some meetings to attend without me. I found out the city had a super mega huge mall that had every single store I have been wanting to go to but I didn't have them local to me. So I could do 1 of 2 things. I could check out of the hotel and go with the boyfriend to his meetings and sit and be bored for hours OR I could check my sassy self out of the hotel and head on over the that fab mall. Which option did I choose? The mall obviously! What would you pick?

The mall was pretty quiet as it was the middle of the week. First plan of action: Find the map. As I went on looking for the map I passed a few of the stores I had been wanting to visit, so I stopped in. I had no schedule to follow. It was just me and the mall. Because the mall was slow, employees had more time to spend with me. I stopped into Teavana first to get some tea. I had a wonderful chat with the lady at the counter. She was able to explain everything I needed to know because I asked. I spent a good half hour with her and left a very happy customer. Tip: Go to stores/places you really have interest in. This makes it more comfortable to talk to people.

Next I sat down and enjoyed my tea. Once I finished my tea I browsed a few stores. I took my time which nice because there was no one to bug me about wanting to go somewhere else.  I then laid my eyes on Lush. One of my favorite places to venture into. Because I had time, and always wanted to sample more of their products, I was able to sit down and have a skin care demo. This was amazing. I got my hands all scrubbed and massaged. I tried lotions and powders galore. Had I been with someone else, I probably wouldn't have stopped for all of that. Tip: Sit in an open area and people watch. This makes for an interesting activity and can help make you feel more comfortable.


After Lush, I got hungry. It was lunch time at this point. This is where it gets nerve racking. Dining alone. There were so many great restaurant options in this mall that I couldn't pass one up for a quick McDonalds lunch or Taco Bell. I wanted to sit down and enjoy a nice adult lunch. And so I did. The waitress was very friendly and even made sure to check in on me often in case I was in need of anything. She thought it was so cool I was dining alone. She brought me a free dessert. It was really sweet of her. I never felt weird. It was a pleasant experience. Tip: Bring a book to read. When you are waiting for your food to come, this will come in handy to help pass the time.


After lunch I got word that the boyfriend would be along to pick me up within an hour. That was perfect because in front of my was Sephora. I could spend hours in there if someone let me. Today I really did have an hour I COULD spend in there because I wanted to. I went in like a kid in a candy store and I played. Seriously, I tested all kinds of products. No one was pestering me to move on to the next store. It was an interactive experience if you will. Tip: Go to places that you can interact somehow. It really makes the alone thing seem minor. If something is occupying you, who cares!


The boyfriend picked me up, but not before taking me to the Cheesecake Factory for some yummy cheesecake slices to take home. All in all I had a great experience on my "me date". I visited places I wanted to see and got things I wanted to buy. I never felt rushed or out of place. I have come to enjoy these days. You get so much done and get to do the things you want to do without someone slowing you down.

Have you ever taken a "me date"? How was it? Share below!

*Just a little FYI: I am taking over the Blog Baton today on Instagram. Follow along: TheBlogBaton. If you are not following me personally on Instagram follow me here--> trishfromthelist

I just love a good Halloween party! But what I love more is decorating. Over the weekend I threw a little party to get in the Halloween mood. I put together my whole party for under $40 including food and decor. Let me show you what I did!

I have a great entry way in my apartment. I wanted a way to greet my guests to introduce them to the party. Since I really love wine, and drink it regularly I picked out some empty bottles with spooky art on them. I then went to the dollar store and found light up LED wands and stuck them in the bottles for a spooky look. I also picked up some LED tea lights and a black gauze curtain to tie it all together. Voila! A simple (and cheap) entry way for my guests!


Next I wanted to make sure I had a focal area for the party. For me that was the drink table. I decorated a table with spider webbing and plastic spiders (Again from the dollar store).


 On the table I needed to add more focal points. I had a beautiful wood bowl I got somewhere and never used so I went to the local pumpkin patch and picked up some small pumpkins and squash. It was a heck of a lot cheaper to purchase from the farm and I will still use the squash for food later on. It's a win/win. I also stopped in to Pier 1 Imports where they had all of the Halloween decor on clearance and I picked up those cute little mummy and bat ornaments along with those cute as heck cups. I closed the look with some dollar store lights to wrap around the bowl to give it a more festive look.

Next I needed a great drink for my guests. I really wanted to make an apple cider sangria, but did not have a big enough pitcher for it, so I used what I had. I had 3 carafes ranging in 3 different sizes. I decided to make it a "mix your own" drink. In the largest carafe I poured some cheap pinot grigio, honey crisp apple, a cinnamon stick, and 3 mini bottles of caramel vodka. In the second carafe I poured more pinot grigio, and in the third I made hot cider and let it chill. Now my guests could pour the wine mixture into the wine and add cider if desired.


So there you have it, some cheap ways to decorate! Shop the dollar stores, use what you have, and make it work! Some of the best ideas come out of what you already have. I hope you have a great Monday!

 Happy Saturday you fine interweb folks! I have never done one of those "Currently" posts so I figured since my life has been running rampant the last few weeks I'd do a little update on my life :)

I took what I'd like to call an unexpected technology vacation for the better half of this week. I wasn't planning this but let me tell you what, I got SO much done this week even with having a busy calendar. I know for a lot of people it is hard to disappear from the blogging world and such for a few days, but I realized I was starting to get frustrated with balancing and my writing wasn't the greatest. I needed to step away and recharge and live my life. Living life is what makes the great posts flow. #amiright?

Currently: Work flow
Anyways a few months ago I told you all I got promoted at work. I also had a few moments where I complained about not being busy enough. We all know we should be careful what we wish for because currently my work life is INSANE! Everyday this past week I spent hours looking at numbers on a computer screen for a "special" project and by the time I got home I was so bleary eyed I wanted nothing to do with more screens. I also think I need to get my eyes checked. My vision has not been the greatest lately. (Damn you getting old and computer screens!) On a happy note I finally got my office set up and I LOVE it. I have never had an office before and being able to tell people "let's go into my office" excited me WAY more than it should! I will do an office tour soon :)

Currently: Home projects
Another reason my week was nuts is I was planning for a Halloween party that happened last night. If you have read previous post, you will know I am a fall-oholic and I love Halloween. I went out shopping last weekend to prepare for what at the time was a small get together with my girlfriends. As I fell in love with more and more Halloween decorations, that small get together turned into a full on Halloween party. This was one of my bucket list items because of all the years I  have lived on my own it never happened. Now my house is decorated and ready for the holiday. I will be posting how to make your house look cute and festive on a budget. Look for that on Monday!

Currently: Loving
Sometime last year I won one of those Bluetooth HMDX Jam Party rechargeable stereo speaker things. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it and considered giving it away. Last night at the party I wanted music to be played and my laptop wasn't jamming like I wanted it to. I decided to break out the speaker and synched it with my phone. It is the BEST THING EVER! I love that I can set it anywhere in the house and control it with my phone. I downloaded the I Heart Radio App and I can scan through thousands of radio stations form my phone. Once its charged you can take it everywhere with you and it lasts up to 12 hours. Its pretty darn convenient.

Currently: Avoiding
Can we say laundry? Ugh the only thing I hate about my apartment is there is no laundry hook ups. We do have a quite lovely laundry center in my development but I still need to lug it all up there. It is a rainy day, so perfect to get some laundry done, but I am being lazy. Anyone else avoid laundry like the plague?

So there you have it. Life unravelled. I hope you all have a great Saturday!

Today is the day.. the day I officially end the series: "Defining Lifestyle". As promised I want to share with you how all of the participants answered the question: How do you define YOU?

 
Christine @ The So-Called Homemaker: Christine (n): A fun-loving young momma who loves to read, write, and dance to Asian pop.  See also: crazy, silly, eccentric.

Helene @ Helene In Between: It's really hard to define yourself. You look in the mirror and think about your physical features but you don't often look at your inner self: your mind and your heart. I think I define myself by not necessarily what's inside but those things I hold dear around me. So my husband, my two dogs, my family and my friends. Someone asked me the other day about how I would describe my blog, which, can be difficult when you don't have a niche. But I've decided on "I Create Buzz" and I think that this also could describe my personality. I am outgoing, determined, stubborn, and somewhat creative. And clearly, I'm also all over the place, since this kind of took more direction than one!


Jenn @ Jenn Wells Design:

Becca @ Becoming Adorrable: I'm a wife, a furmom, and a fighter.

Trish @ Beyond the Khaki Pants:  Lifestyle is blogging about life. Which is anything and everything. Mothering, relationships, career, embarrassing moments, the highs and the lows. These blogs are marked by perspective of the unique view of the blogger, not necessary by topic. Which is why I could read 10 posts about the same topic and they could be completely different.

ME: I define my lifestyle as a project in process. I am always learning and creating new ideas both personally and professionally. This blog will always be a view of me and how I am changing.

Now it's your turn! Link up with either your 5 questions and answers or your definition of lifestyle. Or combine them together! Do it however you please! I can't wait to read your responses!

Well its been 7 fast weeks and I am finally wrapping up the "Defining Lifestyle" series. I had great bloggers share fun questions here on the blog. They all give different perspectives of what a lifestyle blogger does. We have no boundaries. We post all kinds of random stuff and people still read it. That is the best part. If I come home at 1am and have nothing prepared for tomorrows blog, I can seriously wing it and no one would ever know.


So now that I am wrapping this baby up, I wanted to share with you my 5 question. I hope you enjoy the questions and this series!



1. Is it true that you haven't bought shampoo in almost 2 years?
Trish: Totally true. Guilty. I have not physically paid for shampoo and many other products in nearly 2 years thanks to my little freebie addiction. Although I have slowed down, it it weren't for them this blog wouldn't exist. I don't feel like anyone should pay full price for anything. Don't believe me? Check out some of my favorite sites to score all kinds of goodies ---->  Freebie stuff!

2. How did freebies start your blog?
Trish: I had SO many free items sitting around, I decided to do what every company wants, and that's talk about the products. This blog started as a 1 post a week review page. Now I've moved into Lifestyle with a few reviews thrown in.

3. It's not real clear what you do for a living- What are your professional skills?
Trish: What? Freebie Addict isn't a profession? Ok, Ok.. Where do I begin? I went to college undeclared  and got bored while taking classes for my undergrad so I decided to also take classes in Interior Design. I earned a certificate in that (It's no wonder I like to decorate!). Still in school for my undergrad I took a job in the eyecare business to make some extra cash and ended up getting my ABO certification. For those of you who aren't familiar with that term, I can make eyeglasses and make people look fashionable in their eye wear :).

I finally graduated college with my Bachelor Degree in Marketing with a minor in Business. I decided to fly across the country (I'm originally from PA) to Los Angeles to follow my dream (Or so I thought) and interned at an entertainment marketing company called Fanscape. I got to do all kinds of fun rock star types of things; like work a tour or handle a famous person's MYSPACE page. Yes I said MYSPACE. That's how long ago this was folks. Myspace was still the shit! So I had all kinds of great Los Angeles experiences and then stuff got expensive and I had to go home. Booo. So fast forward to now. I am working in a technical job where I am handling operations for a materials testing lab. So to sum it all up, my professional skills makes me a Mutt? BA, CE, ABO, Crazy?! I have a lot of skill and still want to learn more!

4. Whew that was a long answer! Next question: If your blog had a theme song, what would it be?
Trish: After that long answer I'd have to say Extraordinary by Liz Phair because who wouldn't want to described as an "average everyday sane psycho, super goddess?!". I think this blog jumps around so much it can seriously be average or over the top depending on the day. Plus its so much fun to sing!

5. Do you find your life interesting, and why?
Trish: I have been really fortunate in my life so far. I have done some pretty crazy things that people can only dream of doing. I set my mind to something and I get it. (Hello I went to the Grammy's!) So yeah I would say my life is pretty interesting most of the time. But I keep it that way. Why live any other way?

Alright peeps there you have it. My 5 questions and answers. It was a lot of fun! Now I really would love to see what kind of questions you guys would ask yourselves! Tomorrow I am going to share how everyone who participated in this series answered the question "How do you define YOU?" So with that,  I am also going to have a link up so everyone can share your questions and answers! I hope to see you then!

Need some examples? Here's a recap of all the lovely ladies who came up with questions for the series!







 

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